Murder On The Orient Express by Agatha Christie

I’ve never read an Agatha Christie before, so I thought I should at least read (perhaps) the most famous one. I was hooked even before chapter one by the cast of characters:

Antonio Foscarelli: Information gushed out of this swarthy, menacing Italian like the blood from the victim.

Edward Henry Masterman: a spare, neat, noncommunicative valet who has the haughtily disapproving face of the well-trained English servant.

Whenever I tried to puzzle out the mystery I ended up catching one of the numerous red herrings, but it was fun to watch Hercule Poirot unfold the solution. 75 years from when it was written and I still didn’t see the ending coming.

One-word review: snappy!

Summary:

En route to Paris, Belgian detective Hercule Poirot has booked winter passage on the fabled Orient Express. Among the assortment of fellow passengers, one wealthy American holds a unique distinction: He has been found dead of multiple stab wounds in the night compartment of the Calais coach. By dawn, thirteen travelers, each bearing a secret, will find themselves suspect in the most ingenious crime Poirot has ever solved …